Forever Young - a One Direction love story

~Zayn~

~Zayn~

Get out, get out, get out of my head! And fall int—

His own song as his ringtone. Zayn jumped off his bed as he heard his phone ring. Dragging the sheet with him, he found himself on the cold floor, his cell phone in hand. With a quiet groan, he answered the call, not even bothering to open his tired eyes.

“Hmm?”

“Hey! Didn’t party too hard last night?”

“Nah, just the usual. I’m feeling quite well anyway.”

“Well enough to see me today?”

“Depends, who is it?” Zayn asked as he yawned and crawled back into bed.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously what?”

“You talk to me every day for like, eight years and you still can’t recognize my voice?”

Zayn let out a quiet chuckle and said, “Audrey?”

“I’m disappointed in you, Malik. And I thought I was your best friend. Really,” Audrey said.

Zayn automatically recognized the joking sound of her voice and laughed. “Yeah, well, maybe I can make it up to you. How soon can you get here?”

“It can take me ten minutes.”

He winced. “Ouch. Won’t have time to shower. Are you sure you want to spend the day with a smelly Zayn?”

“You always smell, anyway,” she teased.

“So do you.”

“Thanks! Well, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes then. Is that okay?”

“Sure, don’t say I didn’t warn you though.”

Zayn beeped his phone off, threw it on the other side of his bed and buried his head under his pillows again.

Just one more minute…

***

When he opened his eyes for the second time, his best friend was sitting across the room, watching the TV, her head resting on her hand.

“Shit,” he murmured to himself.

Audrey heard him and turned over to him. “Finally awake?” she said with a smirk.

“I guess I am, heh.” He nervously scratched the back of his neck and ran a quick hand through his hair. “How long have you been here?”

She shrugged and turned the TV off. “Something like a half hour.”

“How did you get in?”

She pulled a small key out of her pocket and showed it to him. “Inside the pot, next to that ugly plant you refuse to get rid of.” She giggled and threw it to him. “You might want to think about finding a new place to hide your emergency key. I found it in no time.”

He groaned and stood up. “You should’ve waked me up.”

Audrey flashed a bright smile and walked over to him. “I just couldn’t. You were adorable sleeping.”

She went on the tip of her toes and lay a quick kiss on Zayn’s lips. A friendly kiss, that was all it was; to him, anyway. Audrey and Zayn were just that close. He’d met her eight years earlier, at his mother’s birthday party. Their parents were good friends then. Audrey had been brought along, and that’s how their beautiful friendship had begun. They were inseparable ever since.

Zayn smiled slightly. “Hmm, well, now that I’m awake, what do you want to do?”

Audrey looked at him for a moment, as if thinking deeply, and finally said, “I want you to shower.” She moved closer to him and whispered into his ear, “You smell.”

“Fine.”

“And then… you could take me somewhere. Maybe…” She hesitated. “Maybe out on a date,” she blurted out, blushing.

Zayn didn’t seem to notice how nervous she was, and he took it as a joke. With another smirk, he asked, “So now we’re dating?”

Audrey softly bit her lip. “Well, I th—”

“Hold that thought.” Zayn cut her off as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and read the text he’d just gotten from Harry. “Hey, Audrey, what would you think about going out with me and the boys tonight?”

The young woman tried her best to hide her disappointment and forced a smile. “Sounds good. Where to?”

“Nando’s.”

“Okay.”

“Great! Well, I’ll go take a shower now, as you wish me to. Then we’ll spend the rest of the day together before joining the guys.”

“Yeah, that’s fine with me.”

“Alright! Make yourself comfortable” He pecked her cheek and went into the bathroom.

Audrey let out a small sigh and went to sit on her friend’s bed. She wished he’d stop kissing her all the time like that. All it did was nourishing her hope when really, she had no chance.